Blizzard Announces StarCraft II World Championship Series

Blizzard has unveiled the StarCraft II World Championship Series, which is going to be a brand new tournament series officially run by Blizzard. Similar to Riot Games’ League Championship Series, the StarCraft II World Championship Series looks to be a way for Blizzard to unify its e-sports scene to make it easier to follow.

On their official site, Blizzard detailed the logistics of the World Championship Series and how it’s going to operate. The World Championship Series is comprised of 3 distinct leagues: WCS Korea, WCS America, and WCS Europe. The 2013 WCS will split into 3 seasons lasting from April 4th to November 8th. The WCS Global Finals will take place at Blizzcon 2013, and will feature the top 16 players from the year competing to take the grand prize.

Blizzard also announced that these tournaments matches will be shown through GomTV and OnGameNet in South Korea, Major League Gaming in North America, and Turtle Entertainment’s Electronic Sports League in Europe.

It’s no shocker that Blizzard is doing something like this. Riot Games has proved that creating a dedicated gaming league focused on one game can be more successful than having many disparate leagues and tournaments. Riot Games’ League Championship Series has been immensely successful, drawing in over 100,000 viewers every time they are streaming. It just seems like when the company that made the game is the driving force behind its e-sports scene, everything runs smoother.

Blizzard also mentioned in their official post that having so many different tournaments and leagues made it harder for the pro players because they were forced to choose which events to go to. Overlaps and scheduling issues would occur, making it tough on the players. Having so many different tournaments also made it hard for spectators to keep up with the ever evolving scene. Creating a more cohesive tournament league can only benefit StarCraft II, and I suspect that the WCS will be successful for all involved.

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Jason Kwon (Jason Kwon) was born and raised in Southern California, so he is of the mindset that 70 degrees can be "chilly." As a full time student, he always manages to stay busy, whether it be through playing video games, writing about video games, or not studying. He loves all genres, so don't ask him to pick a favorite, as he'll probably just give you a blank stare and shrug. Feel free to contact him at [email protected]